Number 18 ( ١٨ ) is written under the eye! Domesticated camels are numbered by the owner fpr recognition.
This natural park of frankincense trees is located in Wadi Dawkah, an important stop along the ancient Frankincense Trail, an incense trade route that’s been used by merchants for millennia. Around 5,000 frankincense trees can be found in this desert valley, including some ancient specimen. Although frankincense trees can reach a height of 26 feet, most trees in Wadi Dawkah are no more than 10 feet high.
Around age 8 to 10, frankincense trees are mature enough to be tapped. In April, when the temperatures are rising fast, the trees can recover from the tapping process. Using a putty knife, workers scrape the bark of the tree; the exact location and number of incisions per tree are dictated by the knowledge that has been passed down from one generation to the next. Resin oozes from the wound, which is left on the tree for two or three weeks to harden.
The first harvest, however, is not usable. Workers will repeat the tapping process soon after the first harvest, and the second harvest yields the raw material for the production of incense and essential oils.
This place feels like a scene from a movie with the waves crashing on the cloffs, birds saoring around and the rusty ship sitting there quietly!
Mixed stories around the truth behind the fate of this ship in Eftalqott; but according to some, the abandoned ship ran aground by Cyclone Mekunu, which struck the coast of Oman in May 2018. Been there since.
Some say the underpaid crew abandoned theere demanding higher pay!!
In both cases this place is so mysterious in the setting and definitely worth the visit (4x4 and good navigation needed to find it).